Uganda: Authorities must investigate election-related killings, arbitrary arrests and torture of opposition members, supporters

Ugandan security forces targeted members and supporters of the opposition party National Unity Platform (NUP) with lethal force, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment before, during and after the 15 January general elections, Amnesty International said today.

The organization received multiple reports indicating that between 15 and 18 January, the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Uganda Police Force likely killed at least 16 people across the country using unlawful force. They also arbitrarily arrested hundreds, subjected some to incommunicado detention or held them in unknown places of detention. Others were subjected to forms of ill-treatment, including acts that amount to torture, during arrests and while in detention. These violations occurred amid a nationwide Internet shutdown imposed by the authorities just two days before the elections.

“Three months since security forces meted out untold brutality on the public, no one has been held accountable,” said Tigere Chagutah Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.